Many toys and games exist which employ visual or decorative game pieces or display elements, such as marbles of various colors and transparencies. An example is the popular game known as "Chinese Checkers", which employs a star-shaped board having multiple recesses for accommodating marbles of different colors.
Another type of game employing a two dimensional array of marbles is a Japanese game known as "Gomuku".
Games such as these are not primarily intended as vehicles for artistic design of arrays of different colored marbles. Rather, they are games played by set rules which have nothing to do with the aesthetic characteristics of the arrays which are formed during play of the game.
Additionally, no more than a two dimensional array of marbles is possible with these known games.
It has been proposed, however, to employ large, solid building blocks, each having generally half-round recesses for accommodating marbles in a way which can display marbles at different levels above a base. The building blocks can be stacked in ways determined by the user and marbles can be inserted in the respective recesses.
Such a device, however, is very limited in terms of the flexibility which can be achieved in configuration of the display piece arrays. Only planar arrays are possible and more complex configurations are not available at all. Additionally, the nature of the building blocks interferes with the free flow of light through the visual display elements, which detracts substantially from their aesthetic appeal.
It is a general object of this invention to provide an artistic amusement apparatus facilitating free creative making of a wide variety of three dimensional aesthetically pleasing arrays of visual display elements such as translucent marbles and for enhancing the appearance of such arrays by attractive exposure to light.